Tergle

What do they actually do

Tergle builds custom AI agents that automate repetitive audit work for internal and external audit teams. The agents run routine checks, surface anomalies, and hand items requiring judgment back to human auditors. Engagements start with a short discovery call (the site says ~20 minutes), then Tergle’s engineers and pre‑vetted auditors design and deploy a tailored solution inside the customer’s environment, with year‑round Slack/Zoom support and human‑in‑the‑loop oversight during deployments Tergle site, YC profile.

Day to day, customers route audit data or tasks to Tergle’s agent, which automates the manual spreadsheet work and anomaly detection common in audits. The company currently operates a white‑glove, bespoke deployment model rather than a self‑serve SaaS product, and public materials say they are working with enterprise audit teams, including “multiple billion‑dollar companies” Tergle site, YC profile, BFC VC.

Who are their target customer(s)

• Internal audit manager at a mid‑to‑large company: Spends excessive time on spreadsheets and manual checks; needs a way to surface exceptions without increasing headcount. Seeks automation that fits existing audit workflows.
• External audit partner at a public accounting firm: Teams perform repetitive procedures across many clients with slow sampling and evidence collection. Needs reliable automation that reduces manual workload while preserving audit rigor.
• Head of risk & compliance at a regulated company: Requires consistent, auditable checks for fraud, regulatory, and ESG requirements but lacks tooling for continuous monitoring. Wants earlier issue detection and traceable outputs.
• Finance operations or reconciliation lead: Month‑end close is slow due to manual reconciliations and exception resolution. Needs automation to handle routine reconciliations and flag outliers to shorten close cycles.
• Audit transformation / analytics lead at an enterprise: Needs repeatable tools with strong integrations and explainable outputs acceptable to regulators/clients. Current bespoke solutions are hard to scale and standardize across audits.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Use founder/VC introductions and targeted outbound to heads of internal audit and audit partners at large companies; offer short paid pilots with a 20‑minute discovery call and dedicated Slack/Zoom support to prove value quickly Tergle site, YC profile.
• First 50: Convert pilots into brief case studies and repeatable deployment playbooks; hire a small enterprise sales team and develop referral/co‑selling motions with accounting firms and niche audit‑tool vendors to keep engineering effort per deal low BFC VC.
• First 100: Productize the top 6–10 agent templates, add prebuilt ERP/finance connectors, and introduce a low‑touch implementation package for mid‑market audit teams. Launch a channel program (resellers, Big 4 alliances, ISV integrations) and use standardized dashboards/audit trails to drive renewals and expansion YC profile.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

The global accounting & auditing market is about $238B in 2025, which shows the scale of spend tied to audit workflows that Tergle targets—even though much of it is service spend rather than software TBRC.

Bottom-up calculation:

Closer software budgets include enterprise GRC/audit‑management (estimated in the tens of billions) and account‑reconciliation software (low single‑digit billions), which together represent the core categories Tergle can sell into Grand View Research, TBRC reconciliation.

Assumptions:

• Focus on software/automation budgets (GRC/audit‑management, reconciliation, fraud‑detection) rather than audit labor/services.
• Avoid double‑counting overlapping categories (e.g., audit features inside GRC suites).
• Near‑term obtainable market concentrates on enterprise audit teams buying bespoke deployments; broader capture depends on productization and integrations.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• MindBridge: Productized AI audit analytics that scans transactions and flags anomalies; overlaps on anomaly detection but is a ready‑made platform rather than bespoke agents embedded in each customer’s workflow.
• BlackLine: Enterprise financial close and reconciliation platform with AI for journal‑entry anomaly detection; competes where Tergle targets reconciliations but is oriented to close automation at scale press.
• AuditBoard: Enterprise audit/risk/compliance platform for managing controls and audit workflows; competes for the internal‑audit buyer but is a broader workflow system, not a custom agent builder.
• Validis: Data extraction and standardization to deliver audit‑ready financial data; overlaps on the data‑ingestion problem Tergle must solve rather than on judgment‑assisting agents.
• AppZen: AI agents for expense and spend auditing that flag policy violations, duplicates, and fraud; overlaps on automated exception detection for T&E/AP rather than general audit workflows.